Additional verses 4 and 5 by Dr. Justus Jonas, 1544.
I had to shuffle some elements in the first verse to get a smoother English translation. I should note that "des Pabsts und Türken Mord" ("the murder of the Pope and Turks") seems to be a partitive genitive, not an objective genitive.
The second half of the fourth verse may be based on Psalm 7:15 (or other, similar passages): "He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made."
This hymn (the first three verses only) appears as "Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Thy Word" in The Lutheran Hymnal (#261) and as "Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word" in Lutheran Worship (#334) and The Lutheran Service Book (#655). In all, and as the Gesangbuch notes, the text is sung to "its own tune." Here's the TLH arrangement:
And here's an arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch:
This is the first hymn in a new section: "Lieder am Reformations-Fest. (Am 31. October.)" "Songs for the Feast of the Reformation (on 31 October)"
German text in the Gesangbuch:
1 Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott,
ein gute Wehr und Waffen;
er hilft uns frei aus aller Noth,
die uns jetzt hat betroffen.
Der alt böse Feind,
mit Ernst ers jetzt meint,
groß Macht und viel List
sein grausam Rüstung ist,
auf Erd ist nichts seins Gleichen.
2 Mit unser Macht ist nichts gethan,
wir sind gar bald verloren;
es streit für uns der rechte Mann,
den Gott selbst erkoren.
Fragst du, wer der ist?
Er heißt Jesus Christ,
der Herr Zeboath,
und ist kein ander Gott,
das Feld muß er behalten.
3 Und wenn die Welt voll Teufel wär
und wollt uns gar verschlingen,
so fürchten wir uns nicht so sehr,
es soll uns doch gelingen.
Der Fürst dieser Welt,
wie saur er sich stellt,
thut er uns doch nicht,
das macht, er ist gericht,
ein Wörtlein kann ihn fällen.
4 Das Wort sie sollen lassen stan
und kein Dank dazu haben;
er ist bei uns wohl auf dem Plan
mit seinem Geist und Gaben.
Nehmen sie den Leib,
Gut, Ehr, Kind und Weib;
laß fahren dahin,
sie habens kein Gewinn,
das Reich muß uns doch bleiben.
Ps. 46. Dr. M. Luther, 1529.
My prose translation:
1 A sturdy fortress is our God,
A good defense and weapon;
He helps us free out of all distress,
Which has now befallen us.
The old evil foe,
He now means it with earnestness;
Great might and much cunning
Are his cruel armaments;
On earth, nothing is like he.
2 With our might is nothing done;
We are very soon lost;
For us fights the right Man,
Whom God Himself chose.
Ask you Who He is?
He is called Jesus Christ,
The Lord of hosts,
And there is no other God;
He must hold the field.
3 And if the world were full of devils
And wanted to devour us completely,
We would not fear so much;
We would still succeed.
The prince of this world,
As sour as he sets himself,
Does nothing to us at all
It's done; he is judged;
A little word can fell him.
4 They should let the Word stand
And have no thanks for it;
He is with us on the plain
With His Spirit and gifts.
[If] they take our body,
Goods, honor, child, and wife:
Let [them] go;
They have no profit for it;
The kingdom must still remain ours.
Ps. 46. Dr. M. Luther, 1529.
The structure and context of part of the second verse recalls Psalm 24:8: "Who is the King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle!" "Wer ist der König der Ehre? Es ist der HERR, stark und mächtig, der HERR, mächtig im Streit."
This hymn appears as "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" in The Lutheran Hymnal (#262), Lutheran Worship (#297 and #298), and The Lutheran Service Book (#656 and #657). In all of these, and as the Gesangbuch notes, the text is sung to "its own melody." Here's the TLH arrangement:
And here's an arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch:
The lines "wir danken dir, daß deine Treu / bei uns ist alle Morgen neu" ("We thank You that Your faithfulness / With us is new every morning" seem to come from Lamentations 3:23: "They [the LORD's mercies] are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
I rearranged much of the second verse to get a smoother English translation. The second half of the verse is drawn from Psalm 91:12: "daß sie dich auf den Händen tragen und du deinen Fuß nicht an einen Stein stoßest." "On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone."
The first part of the third verse seems to be patterned on Psalm 8:4: "what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?" In the German Psalter, though, it's Psalm 8:5: "was ist der Mensch, daß du seiner gedenkst, und des Menschen Kind, daß du dich seiner annimmst?"
I'm not sure I really understood the fifth verse.
Part of the eighth verse may refer to Psalm 34:7: "The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them."
I had to shuffle around some elements within the seventh through ninth verses (and to a lesser degree also in the tenth) to get smoother English translation, but I'm not sure I understood how "der ganzen Welt" ("the whole world") fits into the sense of the seventh verse.
Part of the tenth verse refers to Luke 16:22: "'The poor man [Lazarus] died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side.'" The "Holy! Holy! Holy!" in the same verse could come from either Isaiah 6:3 or Revelation 4:8.
As far as I can tell, this hymn isn't in The Lutheran Hymnal, Lutheran Worship, or The Lutheran Service Book. According to the Gesangbuch, the text is sung to the tune "Nun freut euch, lieben Chr[isten g'mein]." Here's the TLH arrangement:
And here's an arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch:
5 And as he previously brought the world into distress,
He leads it still into death;
He is always ready to destroy
Church, Word, law, [and] all respectability.
6 Therefore he has neither rest nor calm,
Roars like a lion, pursues early and late,
Lays traps and ropes, needs false cunning
So that he spoils what is Christ-like.
7 Meanwhile, the company of angels keeps watch,
Which follows Christ always,
And protects Your Christendom
[And] resists the cunning of the devil.
8 We learn that from Daniel,
When he sat among the lions,
Like also from pious Lot
[Who] the angel helpt out of all distress.
9 Such that even the heat of the fire
Is spared and does no harm
To the boys in the hot flames;
The angel came to help them.
10 So God protects us still to-day by day
From the evil one and from many plagues
By the dear angels,
Who are given to us as guards.
11 Therefore we properly praise You
And eternally thank You, God,
As also the company of the dear angels
Praises You to-day and always.
12 And to ask You [that You would] always want
To be ready to call the same
To protect Your small flock
[And] so keep Your divine word in value.
Dr. Paul Eberus, 1566.
After the Latin of Ph. Melanchthon.
I moved around a few elements in the fifth verse to get a smoother English translation.
The description "brüllt wie ein Löw" in the sixth verse seems to come from part of 1 Peter 5:8: "Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." The same words are used in my German New Testament: "denn euer Widersacher, der Teufel, geht umher wie ein brüllender Löwe und sucht, wen er verschlinge."
Also in the sixth verse, the word spät (late) is purposely misspelled ("spat") so that it rhymes with "hat" from the previous line.
This hymn appears as "Lord God, We All to Thee Give Praise" in The Lutheran Hymnal (#254) as "Lord God, to You We All Give Praise" in Lutheran Worship (#189), and as "Lord God, to Thee We Give All Praise" in The Lutheran Service Book (#522). In all, the hymn is abbreviated from the above form: TLH has verses 1-7 and 11; LW has verses 1-3 and 11; LSB has verses 1-7 and 11.
According to the Gesangbuch, the text is sung to "its own tune." Here's an arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch:
TLH pairs the text with "Old Hundredth," which is very similar to "Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir," but LW pairs it with "Komm, Gott Schöpfer," and LSB pairs it with "Erhalt uns, Herr."